Tuesday, December 27, 2011

King Henrik the First of Sweden now has a young squire who is working hard to earn full knighthood. Carl Hagelin of Södertälje has been wielding his hockey stick like the mighty Skyward Sword of Zelda. His skating has been as if the power boost button has been jammed on. Last night young Squire Carl used his skills to help dispatch and then carve up a lessor dragon from the island. A dragon that these days has lost most of the fire in its belly. Our young squire recorded two well played goals in the victory.

Could that be our Squire Carl above or is it someone else? (Bonus points if you know who the character is, and no he is not Zelda.)

But, let's go back and heap some worship on the King. We take for granted sometimes how good Henrik Lundqvist is. Last night he admitted he got a little lucky earning the 38th shut out of his career over the Islanders. But the King had to get down and dirty in the castle crease to keep the peasants out of his house.

Michael Del Zotto played the part of the once vanquished knight returning to the Rangerland Kingdom to redeem himself in front its noble citizens. He had two assists. Well done, Sir Michael. We bestow the magical Hat of Broadway on thee, a very valuable game token.

Gabby the Earl of Goals also chipped in with an empty netter to retain his title. The reliable Duke of Callahan also contributed two assists to aid in the vanquishing.

Together all our heroes have contributed to take this team to the top level in the game. First, in the Eastern Conference.

The wizard behind this remarkable climb to first place, the disagreeable one, has cast all the right spells so far. Our wizard is an ambiguous character. Could he be an evil wizard, or just a surly disagreeable one who is only on good terms with the mice in his lair?

Anyway, here is the scoring summary:

G

Per

Time

Str

Team

Goal Scorer

Assist

Assist

1

2

05:14

EV

NYR

Hagelin (5)

Callahan (12)

Del Zotto (16)

2

3

06:32

EV

NYR

Hagelin (6)

Del Zotto (17)

Callahan (13)

3

3

17:32

EV-EN

NYR

Gaborik (22)

Stralman (5)

Now our heroes next play the Caps in Washington on Wednesday. Sally forth our Rangerland warriors and build your legend.

As his repsonsibilties have increased over the course of the season, Michael Del Zotto's play at both ends of the ice has improved, as well, to the point where he is now one of the most consistent and successful performers on the New York Rangers. Monday night at The Garden Del Zotto continued his stellar play---picking up two assists, posting a +3 rating, firing three shots on goal, and logging 21:25 worth of solid ice-time---and in the process earned his second Broadway Hat of the season.

"Every day I am just getting more and more confident and feeling better about my game," Del Zotto said in the post-game locker room...

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STAT OF THE GAME

This is the latest point in a regular season that the Rangers have led the Eastern Conference standings since the 1995-96 season. During that season, the Blueshirts held the top position through their games played on Mar. 15, 1996 (Game No. 68)

The Ranger Pundit

I'm Mike Savino, the Ranger Pundit. I have been a NY Rangers fan since the 1937 - 1938 season. The first game I saw in person was in 1943 against the Blackhawks. My biggest disappointment was the '49-50 season and our loss to the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals.